A distractible spinal implant composed of two U-shaped parts is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,498 B2, in which the two parts are held so that they are axially displaceable against each other in the manner of a telescope. On the free bars of the U-shaped outer part a transport admission is arranged, into which a grasping forceps is insertable. The attending physician can grasp the spinal implant with this grasping forceps and transport it to the desired location.
Once the spinal implant is positioned, the grasping forceps is removed. In order to distract the spinal implant to the desired size, an oblong guide bar is then led through the opening of the U-shaped part into the inside of the spinal implant and screwed into a thread available on the outer part before pushing a hollow toothed instrument over the guide bar. The toothed instrument is thereby pushed into the spinal implant until outer teeth provided on the toothed instrument engage with correspondingly formed teeth on the inner part of the spinal implant. If one now rotates the toothed instrument about its longitudinal axis, the inner part of the spinal implant is displaced relative to the outer part.
This entire process is very difficult and requires a high degree of dexterity on the part of the surgeon. Since the toothed instrument sits only very loosely on the guide bar, it can happen that during distraction it accidentally slips out of the engagement with the teeth, so that it needs to be inserted again.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first example of a spinal implant 10 according to the teachings of this disclosure and an example of a tool 12 according to the teachings of this disclosure.